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bsdGoing along with what's going on or taking a position.Agreeing or trying to make a point.If the one from whom the position is coming is internaly balanced the right choice will prevail.But that balance in itself is a well sought after commodity.Have a good one; h

As aperitif Thursday night (sushi for dinner, wouldn't have been a great pairing in this case IMHO...) :

Binyamina, The Cave 2008: Very dark- almost impenetrable garnet towards purple, full-bodied with on the nose ripe dark fruit, vanilla and hints of anise, this layered Bordeaux-blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot aged 24 months in french oak barrels comes first on the palate with rich and ripe blackcurrants and blackberries, then moves on to mediterranean spices with cloves and black pepper, again blackberries, tar, fine cigar and vanilla with bracing acidity and somewhat still searing tannins on a long and mouth-filling finish. Having not yet had the luck (I don't know if I ever will) to taste the Old Vines 2007, this is by far the best 'regular version' Cave ever, really delightful. That being said, I used to be regularly disappointed with The Cave wines until the '06-'07 vintage. I thought then that it was overpriced and somewhat too light (to be completely honest, the Petit Castel 2009 tastes a bit like The Cave 2005, lacking some body and depth for my personal taste). The wine was decanted for over 2 hours and still felt like it wasn't completely opened up so I'd recommend to cellar it for a few more years and if stored well should keep probably till 2017-18.

Friday night:

Tzora, Judean Hills 2009: Dark garnet with purple reflections at the rim, almost full-bodied with on the nose and palate forest fruits and a tiny hint of smoked meat and wet dirt, on the mid-palate black and red currants as well as blackberries, good minerality, acidity and tannins with mediterranean herbs and some dark chocolate on a moderately long finish. Nice, a solid wine from a great winery.

Oh! I almost left this one out:

Hararey Kedem, Shoham Merlot 2006: This is a winery that I had never heard about before, someone offered that bottle to my host but when I looked at the back label I found out my friend's name on it, Dr Ilane Abitbol. Ilane has a Phd in neurosciences as well as a diploma in enology and has worked as a freelance winemaker for several wineries around the globe and with many in Israel, Teperberg being the largest coming to mind right now. He now teaches winemaking courses at the Ben Gurion University of Beer Sheva among other things.Anyway the wine was obviously over the hill, browning with an oxidized caramel-ish nose and that's really too bad as 2006 has produced in Israel some fantastic Merlots (Yarden Odem, Binyamina Reserve...). This wine won a silver award at the Eshkol Hazahav competition in 2008 and while I hold usually little respect for such contests, I could taste still some hints of raspberry and chocolate leading me to think that this one used to be probably a nice wine 2 years ago or so.

Shabbat Lunch:

Lueria, Gewurztraminer 2011: Again, 2nd week in a row with this delicious and refreshing off-dry wine. Greatly appreciated to try and forget the 95F outdoors today in Jerusalem. I miss SoCal and Switzerland these days...

Friday night: 2008 Tzora, Judean Hills, took a while to smooth out. Also, I felt some heat from the high alcohol. Hopefully, it will settle down with cellaring.Shabbat lunch: In a word, Dalton. 2011 Chardonnay (unoaked). Delicious, 2010 Petite Sirah. Intended to serve 2009 but the 2010 came up by mistake. The 2010 was, for the moment, marred by overoaking. Maybe, with cellaring, the oak will settle down and blend in. If so, it should be delicious. Anyone else have similar experience?

Carmel Kayoumi White Riesling 2010 - The nose introduces you to notes of citrus, that are joined on the palate by stone fruit. The texture is nice with some petrol in the mix. Overall, I find this to be a very enjoyable summer wine. $25 at Schnapps and 13% AbV. B+/**

Hagafen Prix label Pinot Noir Soliel Vineyard 2005 - With plenty of bricking showing the wine has matured, I was glad for the opportunity to explore an aged Pinot, albeit perhaps prematurely. The fruit has receded, but it is still lurking in the background, coloring the experience with a layer of black cherry, not with tinges of raisin. The foreground is dominated by forest floor and mushrooms, with acid and tannin that have mellowed out, but not to the point declaring it dead. I have some bottles of the same vintage from Hagafen's other Prix bottling, the Fagan Creek, and I plan on comparing the two. Interstingly, when checking the notes I posted several months ago, I noticed that bottle did not come across as mature as this one. 13.5% AbV and about $50 directly from the winery. B/*

Erev Shabat -- Elan 2010 from Galil Mountain Winery, the newest of their Galil Series, blended from 45% Syrah, 45% Barbera, 7% Petit Verdot, and 3% Cabernet Franc with 14.5% alcohol. A very big nose and took a while to open up to reveal complex flavors of nuts, wood, and chocolate. B+/** at 70 shekels.

Shabat -- Dalton Alma White blended from Chardonnay and Viognier with nice muted fruity flavors balanced well with the Chardonnay to give an apples and honey taste. B+/** Also 70 shekels at the winery.

All drinking beautifully. My wife is crazy about the Four Gates 09 Chardonnay-loves the lighter style for the Summer. But undoubtedly the star of the weekend was the Pinot. Just a shame there is not more of this around.

2007 Alexander Sandro (cab-merlot) - multiple bottles; widely enjoyed and a very good price point for a mid-level wine2007 Gilgal cab sauv - also enjoyed and also a really good value for a bottom tier mid-level wineGilgsl brut - enjoyable; crisp and dry; went went with a double cream brie and Bucheron goat cheese2007 Gamla Cab - just ok; strangly, I liked the Gilgal better even though it is very similar2007 Psagot edom - strong black fruits; a little too fiery for me; I like the single vinyard cab loads betterPrimo-V prosecco - really cheap sweet wine; wouldn't even make it into my picnic basket2006 Yarden Merlot - the best of the lot

It is unfortunate that some wineries tend to 'forget' that kosher doesn't only refer to the ingredients or supervision but also to morality and in particular one essential rule in the Torah: Bifnei iver lo titen michshol (You should not place an obstacle before a blind person). Wherever the 2008 vintage is not clearly stated on the front label there should be a clear indication that the wine is technically under shmittah status if it contains wine from such vintage.

Personally, I do drink as a consumer wine from both Heter mechira and Otzar Bet Din but as a retailer I must know ALWAYS when I should advise my customers of the shmittah status of a certain wine and this is starting to really p***ing me off that some well-reputed wineries with respectable kashrut supervisions are playing hide and seek with this already complicated enough issue!

Flam Rose--A- ** What a treat! This is a fun wine for the hot weather with plenty of complexity to spare. The Cabernet Franc really shines through on the green finish.

Capcanes Peraj Petita '10--B-*** Like its older brother, the '10 was a bit of a disappointment--particularly following the blockbuster '09 vintage. You can't beat the QPR though.

Vignobles David Reserve A-*** I'm not big on french wines generally (in the kosher world you have to pay through the nose to have a chance of getting a decent bottle and even then it's hit or miss) but this wine is amazing, and the bargain-basement price makes it that much more enjoyable. Medium bodied, well-balanced, lots of good earthiness, ELEGANT

Last night with diner (at Moise's, first review on the food forum, meal was 1st course: lamb bacon, entree: duck confit with cassoulet, a french cholent if you like... , dessert: nougat glacé. YUM ):

Segal, Rechasim, Dishon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2008: Deep garnet towards purple, with on the nose black currants and cedar wood and on the palate black currants, blackberries, hints of sweet oak and vanilla, very well-balanced and elegant with mediterranean herbs, bracing acidity and mouth-filling tannins on a very long finish. The wine took a long time to open up, needed almost half an hour in the glass with some good swirling then was drinking beautifully. One of the very best wines from Segal, almost as good as the Unfiltered 2007.

A terrible week is now ahead of us with no wine except on Shabbat ( most observant jews do not drink wine nor eat meat among many other rules from the first day of the jewish month of Av, tonight and tomorrow, until the day after the fast of Tisha B'Av, the 9th but this year it is postponed to the 10th as the 9 is on Saturday, as it is a period of grief and mourning in remembrance of the 2 times the Jewish Temple was destroyed as well as many other tragic events in the history of the Jewish People) . Luckily this year we have 2 Shabbat during this period .

Hey Harry - yeah I am late and I am not even done, but hey, I tried. Personally, I had a poor experience with some Rose wines this past weekend. I had been very excited about the two Cabernet Franc based Rose wines at my table and they both were fine, but a disappointment from the last time I had the Flam. In the end, many thought they were fine while others, thought they were just OK.

David:I'm surprised to hear about your disappointing experience with the Flam. I missed the KFWE so I can't tell if it used to be better, but the Flam I had this past Shabos was absolutely PHENOMENAL. It was bright, tart and very food-friendly, with loads of CF mineral goodness. Also, I found the finish somewhat green and bitter in a lovely way--I'd says sweet green grapes, lemon zest, and romaine lettuce). I haven't found a bottle of the Castel yet so I can't compare, but the Flam is far and away the best rose I've ever tasted.